Subjecting nine-year-olds and 12-year-olds to the unnecessary stresses of standardised testing for which they gain no benefit should not be a priority at all

THE Surrey Teachers’ Association on Wednesday called on the Surrey School Board and the BC government to stop wasting resources on Foundational Skills Assessments (FSAs) and instead focus on the impacts of overcrowding in schools, insufficient student learning supports, and a profound shortage of professional educators.

“At a time when there are students without classrooms and a dearth of learning supports for students struggling to learn, it’s unconscionable that precious learning and teaching resources are taken up by standardised tests that are not included in report cards and that do not result in any direct benefits to the Grade 4 and Grade 7 students writing them,” said the President of the Surrey Teachers’ Association, Jatinder Bir.

Bir said: “We are deeply troubled about several instances of parents who indicated they do not want their child to write the tests, being contacted by administrators who spent significant time trying to persuade those parents to change their minds. We wonder where administrators find the time to do this when there are so many pressing issues in Surrey schools. We also wonder how prioritising standardised testing in this way is aligned with the new Reporting Order that focuses on Descriptive Feedback and with the District’s Mental Health in Surrey Schools Vision with its focus on a trauma informed teaching practice?”

The Surrey Teachers’ Association said it is aware that data from Foundational Skills Assessments is used to rank schools and that ranking is then used by realtors to sell houses. The ranking negatively impacts the morale of students and school communities that are ranked low and further emphasises socio-economic disparities.

“As teachers, we know that brilliance does not have a postal code and that creativity and imagination are found everywhere there are children learning about the world”, said Bir.

“The Ministry of Education says that FSA data provides parents, teachers, schools, school districts with important information on how well students are progressing but, as teachers, we wonder how exactly that data is being used to guide decisions that would impact the students that write the tests each year,” she added.

“In other words, of what benefit are the tests to the students writing them since test results are not included in their report cards nor are learning supports made available for students with low scores.”

Bir urged the District to turn its attention to critical issues instead:

• Too many students still not in classrooms yet as portables’ delivery and installations are delayed
• Redirection of students away from their home catchment to neighbourhood catchments due to overcrowding
• Classes organised to be larger than Collective Agreement limits
• Utterly inadequate level of supports and resources for students with special learning needs
• Increasing incidents of violence due to a lack of resources in classrooms
• Resignations of 336 Surrey teachers last year which is especially alarming during a shortage of qualified and professional educators

• Vulnerability of 2SLGBTQIA+ students and staff amidst ongoing homophobia and transphobia in the community
• Low morale amongst teachers due to difficult working conditions and insufficient opportunities for in-service training

Bir said: “There is a lot that needs the attention of everyone concerned about public education in the district. Wasting precious time and resources on standardised tests when learning and working conditions are less than optimal in multiple schools across Surrey makes absolutely no sense for the children that teachers work with every day.”

Bir reminded BCNDP MLAs in Surrey that when their party was in Opposition, they repeatedly made promises to change the Foundational Skills Assessments, agreeing with teachers about the many faults and failures of the standardised tests.  She wonders what BCNDP MLAs have done about these faults over the six years their party has been in government.

While public education is systemically underfunded due to budget austerity, the Surrey Teachers’ Association said it is urging Surrey School Trustees and Surrey MLAs to focus on providing students what they deserve to be successful in learning about the world. Subjecting nine-year-olds and 12-year-olds to the unnecessary stresses of standardised testing for which they gain no benefit should not be a priority at all.